Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame

Hi All,
For those of you that know Mike Veach (bourbonv), the coolest thing has happened...

Mike is being inducted into the Kentucky Distillers' Association's Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. Each year, The Association recognizes individuals, companies and organizations that have made a significant impact on, or a major contribution to the stature, growth or public awareness of Kentucky Bourbon.

Mike's name will be added to the Hall of Fame display at the Getz, and he'll receive a minature copper still with his name engraved.

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!!!

As a Kentuckian I consider it my civic duty to smoke, drink Bourbon and bet the ponies. It's a tuff job, but I persevere.

Mike Veach is a trained historian working at the The Filson Historical Society in Louisville, one of the oldest and most prestigious in the State and nationally and internationally known. He has a master's degree in his field and for many years both professionally and as a pastime has devoted himself to historical research on the Kentucky bourbon industry. His knowledge is vast and extends to whiskey and liquor distilling activities not just in Kentucky but other states as well and he has an impressive knowledge of present and former whiskey styles and the different modes of bourbon and liquor manufacture. Recently one of his activities, performed in his spare time, is assisting a new bourbon-oriented restaurant in Louisville with its bourbon list and compiling extensive taste notes for their brands which are available at the restaurant for consultation. Mike frequently gives tutored tastings including at the university in Louisville. Mike is a member of SB but only occasionally posts on this forum. Many here know Mike and I am sure all will agree the honor is well deserved and he has my hearty congratulations. Thanks Brenda for drawing this to our attention.

Trying to point someone unfamiliar with his work to any one book or source that explains how central Mike is to the research of bourbon history in this generation is not easy (at least for me). His work with UDV in the past and current work at the Filson Historical Society are not mass-marketed, as far as I know.

All of my exposure to his knowledge has come piecemeal in the form of answers to forum discussions, notes on historical research he has placed on this and other forums, public appearances he makes at bourbon-oriented events (such as emceeing and sitting on panel discussions), and references to his assistance by enthusiasts and his professional colleagues.

It would be a nice occasion to compile a curriculum vitae of him in this thread, but I would have to leave this for others. I probably only know a small portion of his career in researching bourbon history - and even that places him amongst the heads of the field.

Edit - It looks like Gary was responding at the same time as I was. Thanks Gary.

Thanks everybody. It is indeed an honor to be a soon to be member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. I hope to have a chance to celebrate with many of you on September 15th after the induction ceremony. In answer to DrinkyBanjo's question, I sure don't know myself. I am a trained archivist who specializes in Distilling History and do what is needed to get the information I find to the proper sources - in other words, I have just been doing my job. Waht impresses me the most is that the KDA recoginizes that this industry has a fine history and appreciates people who help preserve it for future generations.